Prisoners of Hope

Zechariah 9:9-12

9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Introduction: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who publicly protested Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany and was imprisoned for it. He spent time in the Buchenwald concentration camp and was finally led to the gallows at Flossenburg. In the midst of this hopeless situa­tion, and knowing that he was about to die, Bonhoeffer confessed that the end of his life on this earth was the beginning of life forever in heaven.

1. Prison and despair.

A. To be in prison for any length of time can no doubt be one of the most depressing experi­ences one can undergo. Prisoners regularly go through times of despair at the hopeless­ness of their situation. They feel that they have no real control over their lives, no power to change things. And, of course, they cannot escape.

B.                                  We were in captivity to sin.

(1) We were “entranced” by it—our natures were inclined to sin. We had no control over it.

   (2) We had no power over it. We were defeated and imprisoned by it. There was no escape.

(3) We were hopeless.

C.                                  We were in captivity to death, both temporal and eternal.

   (1) We had no power over it.

   (2) We could not escape it.

2. A Visitor to our prison.

      Prisoners enjoy visitors perhaps more than anything else. Any contact with the outside world is extremely uplifting. A pastor regularly visited a parishioner who was serving a prison sentence. On one occasion he asked the man what he did for enjoyment, and if he was able to enjoy much at all. The prisoner spoke of the various times of limited freedom—being allowed in the yard, the library, or the gymnasium. He also mentioned the gifts and care packages he received from time to time. But the best time, he told the pastor, “is when you come to visit me. I live all week for our time together. No one else comes to see me, and your visits really give me a boost. It’s that way for all the guys in here—visits are the best.”

A.    Jesus, our King, came to us in humility and entered our prison. He didn’t just come for a short visit, but He stayed there as one of us. He came bringing hope and freedom.

B. He was innocent of any crime, yet Jesus took part in our “sentence”—the cost for our sins.

C. He went beyond our sentence and paid a price that we couldn’t. He was cut off from God—the ultimate “death sentence”—on our behalf.

3. Freedom and hope.

On the one hand, imprisonment can be a time of despair. On the other hand, the day of free­dom is a time of great joy. To anticipate their release date is the only way many prisoners can sustain themselves. It gives them hope to realize that one day they will be free.

A.    Jesus paid the price for sin and released us from our imprisonment. We are no longer imprisoned and held captive by sin. We have been released from our “sentence” and been given freedom over temptation. Even when we feel trapped by sin (Rom 7:19), we know that we have been set free by Christ (Rom 8:1—4). Our Baptism was our release date.

B. Jesus rose from the dead, winning us free­dom from death. Prisoners who are on death row don’t have the hope of a release date unless something extraordinary happens. We, too, had no hope for ourselves, but Christ conquered death and gave us hope. In the most extraordinary event of all time Jesus rose from the grave. Even when con­fronted by death, we know that we have ulti­mate freedom in heaven (Rom 8:38—39). Dietrich Bonhoeffer was able to face his earthly death with hope, realizing Jesus had won him freedom and granted him eternal life.

Conclusion: Because of sin, we were prison­ers of death, without hope and without a future. Because of Christ, we have become prisoners of hope, no longer held by the bonds of sin and death but now “imprisoned” by God’s love and forgive­ness. We now have hope in all circumstances. We have life. We can enjoy living in the hope of Christ each day.